the dismantling the occupy l.a. camp under way now. hundreds of police moving in. many protesters standing their ground. just a few weeks ago he was the gop front-runner. now herman cain may be setting the stage for his exit after a woman accuses him of a 13-year affair. >> i haven't worried about my job status in 36 years. >> jim boeheim is wrestling with the bernie fine sex scandal. what happened on his watch overshadowing the game -- on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com and good morning, everyone. it is wednesday, november 30th.

ali velshi is off i'm christine romans along with carol costello. good morning. >> good morning. the dismantling the occupy l.a. camp is under way right now. hundreds of riot police moving in. more police officers than protesters by some accounts. police issued several ten-minutes warnings throughout the night, that were pretty much ignored. how much arrests so far, sandra endo? >> reporter: still no exact number, carol. the scene is very active. you can see cops in riot gear. also the fire department is on-scene. the bomb squad. look at this. the massive movement of hazmat suits methodically going through the park trying to get rid of all the tents and debris and everything that people have brought into the encampment. this is how it all went down.

just a little after midnight these protesters heard the warning that this was basically going to be eviction day. so they flooded the streets. these streets are shut down. cops have made a perimeter around this area, but they flooded the streets to have one last standoff with police. well, then there was a sneak attack, carol. cops went from the other side of city hall, raided the park and basically took control of this park and we were there in the middle of it all and that is when things got tense. there was a little jostling, shoving, pushing, as protesters tried to get back into the camp. that obviously didn't happen. then a group of protesters sat down in the middle of the camp refusing to leave, defying the order to leave the park, and that is they got arrested, but everything has been very peaceful so far, and now cops are going how that all the tents that have been set up. shaking them down. checking to see if people are inside. look at that bus right in. that is full of people that have

been arrested through this process, and they have been either hiding out in tents or obviously are defying the order to leave this area. cleavely, this l clearly, this is going to be a long, drawn-out process. carol? >> sandra endo reporting live by city hall, thanks. no sign of surrender from herman cain. just hours after telling his staff he was re-assessing his campaign, he took the stage laying out a national security and foreign policy strategy while avoiding allegations he had a 13-year affair with a georgia businesswoman. cain is keeping up with a three-stop ohio swing beginning today. paul steinhauser is live in washington. cnn's police adviser.

by those allegations he's trying to get back on message? >> reporter: he certainly is. he may try to get back on track, yesterday morning a conference call, herman cain had a conference call with campaign staffers across the country and here what he said. we have to do an assessment whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud in people's minds as to whether or not they would be able to support us going forward. he went on to say, it's also take an toll on my wife and my family, as would you imagine. cain pointed out in the conference call, a number of assessments. four, in fact, this year and each time has gone on. he's trying to say, yes, this is just a check of where things are. later in the day he sent an e-mail to supporters a little more defining. he went on to say, let me assure you, i am not deterred. america's future is too important. we will continue on this journey to make america great once again. that was an e-mail to supporters last night. the big question for herman cain, does he have the money?

will fund-raising dry up now? his top guy in iowa told our john king this last night. >> we don't have major donors and he's not a candidate that's been able to self-fund the whole thing. so if people make contributions then we'll keep the campaign doors open and be able to keep paying people. otherwise, herman cain will have to make a decision whether he can afford to keep moving forward. now, i believe people will come through, and i believe that we have enough supporters across the nation to keep this campaign viable. >> reporter: and a source from the campaign tells us that decision could come in a fup ew days. we're only five weeks away from the first vote in iowa. >> if he were to drop out, what other candidates stand to make the most? if the campaign dries up, where does that money go? >> reporter: good question. cnn/orc poll, who would your second choice be?

look at the top of the list. newt gingrich, turning into the alternative to mitt romney. the conservative alternative. you can see almost four in ten's say gingrich would be the second choice. 25% romney, 10% perry and then bachmann and paul. a big "if" herman cain drops out. two of herman cain's rivals, michele bachmann and newt gingrich were asked yesterday if they think he should step aside. both carefully side-stepped that issue. >> i think it's a very difficult situation for he and his family. my heart goes out to them. i hope that he reaches whatever is the right decision for them, and beyond that, i'm not going to have any comment. i think it's his decision to make. he has to do what he thinks is best. >> clearly, it's not helpful for his campaign, but he'll make that determination going forward about whether or not he sees himself as a viable candidate, and more importantly, it's the voters that will make that decision. >> do you think he should drop

out? >> that's not for me to say. >> michele bachmann there. new developments there in the syracuse sex abuse scandal. we're hearing from head coach jim boeheim for the first time since fine was fired. a 84-48 victory last night. he said he isn't concerned about losing his job, but he was defensive when a reporter asked whether the alleged abuse could have happened on his watch. >> the investigation is under way. there are no charges, there are no indictments, there is no grand jury. there is no action being taken. when that is done, then we will see what has happened on my watch. >> ed lavandera live in syracuse this morning. so is there any danger that the coach could lose his job? >> reporter: well, i this a

little early noor. we'll see how things kind of play out here. the chancellor said she supported boeheim still, but after his game last night and the roll to that easy win in the game last night, very few questions about basketball and his postgame questions. most dealt with the scant that has gone here, which is the scandal with the assistant coach and the change of his tone in the last few weeks. in the first weekend after the allegations surfaced, boeheim came out and called the first two accusers liars and that they were chasing money. his tone dramatically changed this past weekend as the revelation of those phone recordings between bernie fine, the assistant coach, who has been fired here from syracuse university and the first accuser bobby davis emerged. jim boeheim very much changing his tone, in fact saying that if his initial words caused any grief or problems with other

victims to potentially come forward or hamper the investigation in any way, he was sorry nofor that. listen to how jim boeheim talked about that. >> i supported a friend. that's what i did. i'm proud that i did. if you have known somebody, worked with somebody for 36 years and known them for 48 years. you went to school with them, i think you owe a debt of allegiance and gratitude for what he did for the program, and that's what my reaction was, and so be it. >> reporter: interesting. jim boeheim had written out scripted notes for himself. when it came time to talk about certain aspects of the investigation that was hard to get him away from the scripted moments he had kind of written out for himself. we asked if he been called to testify under oath in any part of the investigation or any grand jury investigation.

he blew off that question. we also asked him if he had listened to the audio recordering between bernie fine's wife and bobby davis, that first accuser, and he said he had not listened to it. i found that kind of interesting. interesting, because in the grand scheme of things so people know the irony. jim boeheim lived directly across the street from fine. families that have known each other for some time. >> we heard a smattering of applause in that interview. who were those people? >> reporter: supporters from the athletic program. his wife was standing off to the side. he was talking about that reaction that he had in those initial days, why he came out so strongly in support of his friend and longtime coach bernie fine. he said, look, after knowing someone for as long as i had, i felt that i owed it to him top say tho

to him to say those words and have that kind of loyalty. clearly, things have changed in the last few weeks. >> ed lavandera, thanks. he got the max. an angry judge throwing the book at conrad murray throwing him behind bars for four years saying he is dangerous and has no sense of remorse. >> experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated, and mr. jackson was an experiment. he engaged in this money-for-medicine madness. >> after that scolding, camaras caught murray blowing a kiss to someone in the court on his way out. whether he'll serve all that time is another question because of the prison overcrowding problem in california right now. and the man who shot president reagan is seeking freedom. a court will decide whether john hinckley should be released from a medical hospital. hinckley shot reagan back in '81

in an effort to impress jodie foster. he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. his doctor says his mental problems are in remission but government officials feel he's still capable of violence. arrested in connection with the disappearance of a woman in aruba this summer. aruban authorities let him go last night. giordano has never been charged in the case and the judge ruled he cannot longer be kept in custody without charges. robyn gardner went missing after she was snorkeling with giordano. giving away $1 million in charity. they won a whopping $254 million. they set up a trust fund for u.s. veterans and those returning home. they accepted the winnings on behalf of a client who wanted to

remain anonymous. and arriving in southeast asia in a country no u.s. secretary of state has visited in five decades. her mission -- straight ahead. oops. the gaffes keep on coming for rick perry. the gop candidate make as double flub in a recent campaign stop. we'll show you the tape. that's straight ahead. and millions of people walking off the job in britain this morning shutting down schools, leaving travelers stuck in long lines at the airport. we're live with more on a massive strike in the uk. it's 13 minutes after the hour. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest. it's real milk full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk.

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it is 16 minutes past the hour. welcome back. hillary clinton making history. the secretary of state just arrived in myanmar. she's the first secretary of state to visit the southeastern asian nation in 50 years. the two-day trip comes on the heels of dramatic concessions by the president and his new government. paula hancocks is live in myanmar for us this morning. good morning, paula. come back, paula! paula!

i think she's gone. hmm. okay. we're going to call paula back, and when she gets back we'll go to myanmar once again. let's move on to american politics now. oops, he did it again. rick perry messes up simple campaign facts in new hampshire. the republican candidate gets the country's voting age and election day wrong. watch. >> those of you that will be 21 by november the 12th, i ask for your support and vote. those had you who won't just work hard, because you're going to inherit this and you're counting on us getting this right. >> for the record, the voting age in this country 18 and the general election is scheduled for november 6th. he just can't catch a break. >> when he has a gaffe, and now it's even more painful. >> right. so painful. still to come, the finish line for the iraq war. we'll take you to northern kuwait where u.s. troops are

making one final stop before their long journey home. and why those working on wall street may be seeing a little less green this holiday. it is 18 minutes after the job. captain, we have to keep going! [ growling ] one step at a time. come on, snowy. look! did you ever see a more beautiful sight?

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welcome back. "minding your business." more than a dozen of the world's largest banks downgraded by rating agency standard & poor's late last night. included in list, america's six biggest banks. jp morgue's chase, bank of america, citigroup, goldman sachs, and wells fargo because of where they regulate and how well regulateed by home countries and deteriorating

credit agencies around the world nap news is not what bank of america needs now. the stock is hovering near $5 a share, down more than 60% so far this year. the banks exposure to bad mortgages, mostly, and the lawsuits related to the bad mortgages. a stock that's in a lot of your 401(k)s. down some 61% this year. europe up for another blow. speculation that france could lose its aaa credit rating. according to a french newspaper, s&p may change the outlook for france with the next ten days leading to an official downgrade with months. s&p not commenting on that report. expect more market swinging becau because -- expect more market swings in the u.s. because of this. more closer to the opening bell. and allegations it failed to

protect private information. the social network agreed to go through a privacy audit every two years for the next 20 years. the federal trade commission has the power to fine facebook $16,000 if the site does anything deceptive. and many in wall street will have to make due with less. year-end bonuses on the street are set to decline 20% to 30% this year. many staffers are expected to take a hit next year. new reports forecast many on wall street will take a 27% cut in pay. as you know, tens of thousands of jobs on wall street have been shed so far this year. "american morning" will be back right after this break. use magnesium, ipss an ingredient that works more naturally with your colon than stimulant laxatives, for effective relief of constipation without cramps. thanks. [ professor ] good morning students. today, we're gonna...

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shaping up to be a beautiful day in new york city. the christmas tree will be lit tonight. 7:00 p.m. eastern, in case you're interested. welcome back to "american morning." just a short time ago secretary

of state hillary clinton arrived in myanmar. the first secretary of state to visit the southeastern asian in more than 50 years. paula hancock joins us live from myanmar. good morning, paula. >> reporter: hello, carol. we are actually at a night market here at the capital, and this is one of the places that the u.s. secretary of state will not be visiting. she will be -- holding high-profile meetings with the president, the foreign minister and also with the pro-democracy activists and nobel peace prize laureate aung san suu kyi. has we've been doing the past couple of days, what the people on it's streets are doing. all these reforms beamed around the world, this is definitely an effort from the top, and people here in the streets they haven't felt the effects of it at this point. some people were a little reticent to talk to us, others refused to talk on camera, still

a fear of authorities and repercussions. those that did talk to us said they were optimistic there could be change in the future. there could be a better future for their country but certainly didn't think that that type of future was here at that point. they didn't feel any difference in their lives. i talked to a former prisoner in prison more than 20 years. he's 82 years old and he's a good friend of aung san suu kyi who is optimistic but very wary. this doesn't disappear with just months. the fact i can talk to you live from the capital from a marketplace and i have no one with me. obviously there are many policemen around, and we had our credentials checked, but this is a very big change and certainly it does show the media restrictions have been lifted somewhat. >> paula hancocks reporting live

from myanmar this morning. and no surrender from herman cain after telling his staff he had re-assessing his campaign. the embattled businessman delivered a speech on foreign policy and national security at a michigan college last night, never addressing allegations of a 13-year affair way georgia woman. and cain is keeping up campaign plans with a three-stop ohio swing beginning today? >> syracuse head coach jim bayhome said he's not worried about his job. he addressed the bernie fine child sex abuse scandal after his team won last night. three men came forward said fine molested them when they were children. no charged have been filed. and in los angeles, overnight protesters warned to leave their camp near city hall. 200 people so far have been arrested. many others left on their own. the move comes 48 hours after a deadline to get out expired. happening right now, britain is being hit with a massive

lockout. one of the biggest strikes there in years, and it's creating long lines at airports, hospitals and forcing thousands of schools to shut down. as you can see, a bit of violence there as well. live in london, erin mclaughlin. what are people protesting there, erin? >> reporter: to let you know where i am, outside st. thomas' hospital in london where some of the 400,000 public sector workers on strike have turned up to picket today. at the center of all this are the public sector pensions. put simply, government workers want public sector -- i'm sorry. government officials want public sector workers to contribute more to their pension and work for longer. with me is chris remington a union leader. chris har chris, what has brought you out here today? pensions decimated under these proposals.

we will see how working life extended, benefits reduced. we will see -- two major -- the pension, does not go back into this, but into the treasury. we've been maligned by these proposals. >> reporter: how has this affected the strike today? >> every hospital entrance restricteded. we have got all in-patient sections reduced. anything non-emergency has been reduced even though we work very hard to make sure emergency and emergency coverage is available for patients. >> reporter: thanks, chris. now, carol, government officials say that this pension reform is necessary. quite simply for the fact that people here in the uk are living

longer. as a result, pensions are getting more and more expensive. that expense falling to the uk taxpayer. >> we can relate here in the united states. erin mcglaug lynlaughlclaughline from london. students caused extensive damage. britain's foreign secretary is blasting iran for failing to protect the embassy and international law requires. the students were part of a protest demanding britain's ambassador be sent home after iran's parliament voted to expel him. a bloody night in the cairo that leaves 62 people injured by rocks, bottles and fire bombs in tahrir square, all while egyptians continued heading to the polls for a second day of elections choosing a lower house of parliament who will be asked to draft a new constitution for egypt. and a surprise visit to baghdad. he arrived yesterday for meetings with iraqi leaders and pay homage to the last u.s.

troops who will be coming home by the end of this year. after nine years of fighting or more than 4,400 lives lost, the end is in sight. things are pretty tight at one remote base in northern kuwait. here's our martin savitch. >> reporter: with the war in ir has a finish line, camp virginia is it. rolling in in the kuwaiti desert, soldiers and equipment. >> no brass, no ammo. >> reporter: here, teams work day and night guiding convoys through a series of stops. each one like an assembly line in reverse, taking off or as they say downloading, equipment accumulated over years of war so what sort of stuff are they getting out at this particular port? >> any pol, any oil, fuel, batteries. anything issued or that they

bought, they download it here. >> reporter: everything is sorted and collected to be thrown out, cycled or put back in service. we brought you to this motor pool, because really it's one of the few places you can go to get a sense of just how much we're talking about. how many vehicles, how many trucks. how much stuff. and this is just the tip of the iceberg. camp virginia has the capacity to house close to 7,000 troops. more than 5,000 vehicles. even though officials say they're below those levels, they admit it's been challenging keeping up with what's coming out of iraq. >> it's very busy. and i will say that we're making use of every available cot we have, all the space that we have. but it's going really well. >> listen up, welcome to camp virginia. >> reporter: but there are signs of strain. the base had to greatly increase housing and office space and the dining hall remains open 24 hours a day just to keep everyone fed. the goal, move the soldiers from convoy to a flight back to the u.s. with five to eight days.

officers admit, it can sometimes take longer, and the next convoy in camp virginia is not expected until november 30th, to allow time to catch up. despite such problems, morale remains high. every soldier who makes it here knows the next stop is home. martin savidge, cnn, camp virginia, kuwait. >> just the visuals of that story are amazing. >> i'm still glad they're coming home. four men charged in the amish beard-cutting case are headed to court today for arraignment. the men each face eight crime charges for shaving beards and cutting hair of members of a rival amish group. a man's beard and head hair are sacred in the religion. and jacksonville jaguars head coach jack del rio stepping down after nine years. the defense coordinator takes over the rest of the season. and bigger news, the team sold to a businessman, shahid khan.

and checking in with rob marciano. welcome back. how's the baby? >> baby's great. mom is recovering. thanks for asking. things are all well. >> how long of a stretch are you guys sleeping? just be honest. >> you know, two -- you know thousand is. between two and three hours and then you're good to go. back at it. >> all fired up. >> on this shift we're kind of used to having little sleep so -- we'll see how long that goes. good morning again, guys. we are looking at topsy-turvy weather. temperatures across the south, 20 degrees below average. temperatures across the northeast, about 20 or more degrees above average. even snow across parts of the deep south yesterday. arkansas in some sports seeing 6 to 8 inches and still power outages because of heavy snow on the tree limb there's. almost 60 degrees in bangor,

maine, and canadian border, canada, seeing temperatures in the 50s and 60s. temperatures across the south barely in the 40s in some spots yesterday. out west, also looking at potential for seeing historic santa ana wind events. conditions setting up for our friends in california, both northern and southern, to see strong offshore winds beginning tonight and lasting at least through tomorrow morning. we're talking about winds that could exceed hurricane force. maybe 60 or 70, maybe even 80 mile-an-hour winds in spots. certainly near the canyons especially, and that will cause trees and power lines to go down and will be a dangerous situation in some of the height of those windy conditions. also not the best for traveling today in fransan francisco and angeles. that's when the wind picks up. and in new york city, strong winds in chicago, cleveland, detroit, warning of snow and temperatures will try to get back to normal across the northeast today. more so tomorrow. 52 degrees for the high temperature in new york and 49

degrees down here in atlanta. >> things getting back to normal. >> wild and whooolly for rob. and working on a plan to fix the region's growing debt. what if they fail? what will it mean for your money, and your job, and your investments? we'll talk about it. and when last night's broadcast turned out to be alarming for nbc anchorman brian williams. oh, man. you're watching "american morning." it's 38 minutes after the hour. n and no way to support them. people told me i wasn't going to do anything. and i just decided i have more to offer than that. i put myself through nursing school, and then i decided to go get a doctorate degree. university of phoenix gave me the knowledge to make a difference in people's lives. my name is dr. kimberly horton. i manage a network of over a thousand nurses, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu.

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welcome back.

an emergency meeting is under way this morning in brussels to come up with a big and bold plan to fix europe's cascading debt problems, and the whole world needs the european leaders to get this right and quickly. time is running out. here's what would happen if the eurozone fails. bank lending freezes. companies can't borrow, pay bills or hire. stock markets potentially crash. u.s. and asian frankly, exports collapse. most people who know say it could be, could be, worse than what happened in 2008, because there's no political will or unity right now to fix it like there was back then. bring in a professor of economics at harvard university in boston this morning and literally has written the book on crises and its after math. good morning. it's a pretty bleak forecast. is that where we're headed? just this morning the economic affairs commissioner came out and said we have just ten days to save the eu? >> christine, this has been a slow-moving train wreck for a

long time, but i'm not sure they've quite hit the wall yet. i don't think they're going to get ten days from now and just say, you know what? we can't agree to anything. we're just going to tear of you the euro and forget about it and everything you just said would happen. i think it's more likely that they'll find some kind of handshake agreement to fix their very, very weak constitution temporarily. you know, there's no fast way to do it. they're really not a country, but they need to be to have this single currency. >> you talk about the single currency and have a good analogy. it's like 17 people who aren't married sharing a bank account. that's can't go on without a lot of trouble. >> no, it can't. and you need to work out an arrangement of who gets what. it's one thing to have something with your brother and sister and then you start bringing in your cousins and these third cousins you don't even know. that's where they are in europe and they need a constitution. they need a way of doing their

finances, and right now they don't have one. >> so it's a big dysfunctional family with cousins, third cousins and everybody bringing in different amounts of money and taking more money out of the banking account. you have germany sitting at the head of the table. essentially the only one whose can get the house in order. a lot of people calling on germany to really step up and lead here, and they're not doing it quite yet. so far. of all people, can we see the polish foreign minister begging germany to help, poland, keep in mind. not even part of the eurozone. has a long history of fearing german dominance. he said i will probably be the first polish 23rforeign ministeo say so, here it is. i fear german power less than i'm beginning to fear german inactivity and i demand, of germany, for your sake and ours you help the eurozone survive and prosper. not just a history buff. this is how desperate the situation is. >> it's just incredible. i mean, to be hearing that. you remember germany invaded

poland in 1939, and to think that poland is begging germany to take leadership is incredible. it captures the contradiction of what's going on. on the one hand everybody fears germany becoming too powerful. on the other hand, they're really the rock. germany wants a system. besides, you can't just run deficits and then we pay for a all the time. we want rules, order, and then we'll come in and let the central bank print money. the countries want germany's money but don't want to agree to anything. >> all the papers here at home, all about germany. the "new york times," "the washington post" calling on germany to fix it. "post" saying germany can rescue the euro, a blank check is not enough from another paper, and called on to pair think fair share here at home. in europe, it's becoming sort of

north versus south. explain that to me. >> well, the northern countries, germany and france, are very large and they're by and large very successful and pretty developed. there are some of the southern countries, like greece and portugal, spain, these are great countries. a lot of great thing, but they're not as far along economically. and so the natural you know, thing is that money is flowing from the richer countries to poorer countries. suddenly the germans woke up and said, wait a second. you're not planning on paying this back? we're worried about that. and trying to figure out slowly over decades and decades they can converge and become a country, but they have this crisis, because investors don't trust the whole thing. >> this crisis is our crisis. this crisis, this slow-motion melt you're talking about affects us. we have a chart here of the eurozone and u.s. manufacturing orders going back 15 year.

look how close that relationship is. a big dip in 2008. look at the dip here, the blue at the end. that's europe starting to head down again. this is why it is so important for us. how does this compare with what we saw in the financial system and the american economy in 2008? is it potentially worse or we'll never see something like 2008 again? >> well, it would be worse, i think, if they just get their ten days from now and say we give up. we're going to split up. europe is huge in the global economy. it's not just our exports. our stock market, if you wake up in the morning and want to know what's going to happen to the u.s. market, look at the european market. they're very weak, would shake confidence. some of our biggest banks would be threatened, might have to be bailed out if the european banks go under, but i don't think we're really going there yet. i think they will come up with another path, but it's still a very scary situation. we're not ten days from a

solution. we could be ten days from a catastrophe. i hope not. >> talk about bailouts in this country. the politics in this country are so ugly right now, ken. there isn't a political will either in europe it looks like or here to be able to confront another financial crisis. they've got to get over that, right ask they have to get over that? >> well, you know, what they did the first time is, they just had the governments write blank checks to everybody, and that worked, but now the question is, who's going to right blank checks for the government? and they're looking to china. therapy saying, who has money? who can help europe? there are limits to what the united states can do. talking about the international monetary fund, but fundamentally, this is a family feud in europe. they need to fix it. they need to fix their system. they need a constitutional change. that is a tall order, but that's what they have to deliver. i think they will just give us a whiff of that in ten days. maybe enough to calm markets for

a while. >> all right. thanks so much. ken rogoff. nice to see you. >> pleasure, christine. ten minutes until the top of the hour. just ahead on "american morning," the greatest show on earth hit with a record fine for allegedly abusing animals. why chick-fil-a doesn't want you to eat more kale. we'll explain. that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and $250 goes to your choice of 5 charities. with your help, we can reach $20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. usa prime credit... this peggy... hi, i'm cashing in my points... peggy?

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ten minutes until the top of the hour. what you need to start your day -- herman cain is recessesing his campaign. the embattled candidate deliver add speech or foreign policy and national security at a michigan college last night without addressing allegations of a 13-year long affair with a georgia woman. syracuse head coach jim boeheim addressing the bernie fine sex abuse scandal saying he's never been worried about this job. three men have now come forward saying fine, the former syracuse assistant coach, molested them when they were children. penn state officials are holding a town hall forum today. the president of the university and several student organizations are hosting the event. students are invited to ask questions about the school's ongoing child sex abuse scandal. riot police moving in on wall street protesters in los angeles overnight. they were warned to leave their camp near city hall. 200 people have now been arrested. this comes 48 hours after a

deadline to get out expired. ringling brothers slapped with a record fine for alleged animal rights violations. spelled entertainment which produces the barnum and bailey brothers circus agreed pay $270,000 but admits no wrongdoing as part of a settlement with the government. accused of abusing and exploiting elephants that took part in the greatest show on earth. and former new york mets manager accepted the job replacing francona replaced after the season collapsed. that's the news you need to start your day. "american morning" back after a break.

good morning and welcome back. it feels like david versus goliath. in one corner trying to trademark the slogan eat more kale he prints on t-shirts in his garage in vermont. the other corner, chick-fil-a claiming his slogan clashes with their "eat more chicken." trademark phrase and are threatening to shut him down, but he's not backing down. >> it's t-shirts and it's chicken sandwiches. it's apples to zebras. >> and you've never sold a chicken sandwich in your life? >> i have not sold a chicken sandwich, no, and will not. >> this is not the first time chick-fil-a came after him pap few years ago he received a cease and desist letter. pro bono back and forth, the letters stopped, he assumed problem solved. he continued his t-shirts of

"eat more kale." he's reported from war zones, but brian williams faced his biggest challenge at a journalist during last night's broadcast of the nbc "nightly news," a fire alarm suddenly went off in the studio as the show started and the veteran anchorman didn't miss a beat. >> good evening. perhaps it's because of its name. for all the bankruptcy we've covered in this grim u.s. economy, this one gets your attention. you'll forgive us, we have a fire alarm announcement going on here in the studio. again, we have an announcement going on here in the studio. tom costello, we should advise our viewers, there's no danger to us. we'd love to make this stop, why don't you -- we thought all the speakers were turned off in here. a routine alarm one floor below our studio. all is well. >> he look so calm. i want to know what he was saying in the commercial breaks. >> i bet it was nasty.

call those people now. >> wires. >> the fire alarm kept going on. finally i turned the station. the first fire alarm in the studio. the system should have been turned off, obviously working out the kinks. just installed a brand new system and it went off as a test. eventually they passed things over to andrea mitchell trying to sort it out. she did have a story about iran. menty to talk about. professional journalists. >> funny. ahead in the next hour, occupy l.a. tents coming down. police rushing the camp overnight and forcing protesters out. 200 people arrested. live to los angeles, next. [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus presents: the cold truth.

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raided. the dismantling of occupy l.a. camp under way right now. hundreds of riot police moving in. many protesters standing their ground. 2 million workers walking. britain bracing for the biggest strike of a generation, and

unions in the u.s. showing their support for workers overseas. just a few weeks ago, he was the gop front-runner. now herman cain may be setting the stage for his exit after a woman accuses him of a 13-year sexual affair. i never worried about my job status in 36 years. >> syracuse head coach jim boeheim addressing the bernie fine sex abuse scandal. questions about what happened on his watch overshadowing the game -- on this "american morning." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com and good morning to you. it is wednesday, november 30th. ali has the day off, i'm carol costello along with christine romans on this "american morning." >> good morning, everybody. up first, the dismantling of occupy l.a. camp yoerch are night. hundreds of riot police moved in. by some counts, more police than protesters. the raid came some 48 hours after demonstrators were ordered to leave. police on the scene briefed

reporters just moments ago. sandra endo is live in downtown l.a. for us. what are police telling you after that briefing, sandra? >> reporter: well, christine, the police chief just spoke to reporters and said that this whole operation has been successful. just let me show you the scene right now quickly, because they are still making a handful of arrests of people who just are refusing to leave. so it's still a very active scene. this has been going on for several hours now, but let's listen to the police chief, what he said a few moments ago. >> 1,400 police officers came to this encampment today and removed what we think is probably resulting in over 200 arrests at this point with minimal use of force. absolutely minimal. it was an operation that was planned and conceived by my command staff. they did a fantastic job. >> reporter: and we saw this all

happen firsthand. what happened was, they knew they were going in. trying to get the protesters out of the camp, so this whole street was filled with protesters knowing the police were going to come. then the police made a sneak attack. came behind city hall and then raided the park. they took control of the park, collapsed the tents. when the protesters tried to get back into the camp, that is when a standoff ensued. we were in the middle of it all. a little pushing, a little shoving, but clearly -- a very peaceful event overall and a lot of people listened to the warning telling them to get out of the park, but a lot of people also wanted to make their statement known, stayed in the park, sat down. linked arm. some people were crying. others had bandannas over their mouths but obviously they wanted to get arrested for this cause. >> sandra endo in los angeles.

thanks. no signs herman cain is quitting after informing his staff he was re-assessing his campaign, cain took the stage in michigan last night trying to sound presidential. he laid out a national security plan, a foreign policy, sidestepping allegations he had a 13-year affair with a georgia businesswoman, and cain is keeping up his campaign plans with a bus tour through ohio that starts today. cnn political director paul steinhauser is live in washington for us today. at what point will herman cain make that final decision? whether he'll stay in the race or drop out? >> reporter: we're five weeks away in the race for the nomination. the decision could come in the next couple of days. you're right, he didn't sound like he was stopping his campaign last night in that speech in ohio. later today he goes to new hampshire as well where he will speak with reporters. as for this re-assessment, he announced yesterday he was doing with the campaign, he says i've

done this four times before this year. he's downplaying. what he said on a conference call to campaign staffers yesterday morning. he said, we have to do an assessment whether or not this will create too much of a cloud in some people's mints and whether or not they would be able to support us going forward. about the allegations on the affair, he said it's take an toll on my wife and family as you would imagine. later in the day, an e-mail from supporters of his campaign, cain sounded much more forceful say, let me assure you, i am not deterred. america's future is too important. we will continue on this journey to make america great once again. carol, the big question mark, of course, falling poll numbers. he's slid. more than that, campaign fund-raising. listen to what his top guy in iowa said to john king on "jk usa" last night. >> major donors and he's not a candidate he's going to be able to self-fund the whole thing. so if people make contributions we'll keep the campaign doors

open and be able to keep paying people. otherwise -- otherwise, herman cain will have to make a decision whether he can afford to keep moving forward. now, i believe people will come through, and i believe that we have enough supporters across the nation to keep this campaign viable. >> reporter: you know right now behind the scene that's what cain and his campaign advisers are trying to figure out. do they have the money? can they keep the poll numbers up? where will his votes go if he drops out? our most recent cnn oka/ocr pol. look at this. gingrich the second choice. one in four say romney is their second choice. carol? >> paul steinhauser live in washington, thanks. new developments in the syracuse sex abuse scandal. we're hearing from head coach jim boeheim for the first time

since his longtime assistant coach bernie fine was fired. he held a news conference after a victory over eastern michigan last night. boeheim said he isn't concerned about losing his job, but he was defensive when a reporter asked whether the alleged abuse could have happened "on his watch." >> this is an investigation that's underway. there are no charges. there are no indictments. there is no grand jury. there is -- no -- action being taken. had that is done, then we will see what has happened on my watch. >> ed lavandera is live in syracuse this morning, and it seems clear from what boeheim has said so far, what little he has said, a couple of different press releases and statements he made to the media that this whole thing caught him completely off guard, and he initially supported bernie fine. he'd known him so long he had

never heard of these allegations? >> reporter: well, yeah, and this relationship dates back nearly 50 years. and it was interesting. last night at jim boeheim came out on to the basketball court on the syracuse university campus that as he was introduced he got a loud ovation from the crowd there, some 19,000 people at the game last night. as you mentioned, christine, the talk after the game was hardly about basketball. it was mostly focusing on this investigation. jim bay heim says eoeheim says has control over the basketball team, he doesn't have control over what adults do. he is shocked and terribly saddened by this. with a lot of attention paid to his change in tone. the way he's talked about this case changed dramatically in the last two week. initially when the story broke he described the accusers that had come out so far, called them liars, said they were chasing money. his latest statement after bernie fine was fired from

syracuse university, his tone changed dramatically. boeheim was asked about that and talked about that last night after the game. >> i supported a friend. that's what i thought i did. i'm proud that i did. i think if you've known with somebody and worked with somebody for -- or worked with them for 36 years and known them for 48 years, you went to school with them, i think you owe a debt of allegiance and gratitude for what he did for the program, and that's what my reaction was, and so be it. >> reporter: and he says, look, as things have changed and more he's learned, obviously, opinions can change, and so any specific questions that we kind of prodded him on about what he knew and what was known at the time of these investigations, boeheim kind of stuck to a script he had written out for

himself. it was hard to get him to go beyond that. those people you heard clapping there, his wife was standing off to the side, supporters and people who work in the athletic department who started clapping. i think really responding to his loyalty, that he said he was exhibiting towards his longtime friend and assistant coach. >> all right. ed lavandera. talk to you soon. he got the max. an angry judge throwing book at conrad murray sentencing him to four years behind bars saying the doctor is dangerous and has no sense of remorse in the death of michael jackson. >> experimental medicine is not going to be tolerated, and mr. jackson was an experiment. he engaged in this money-for-medicine madness. >> after that scolding, cameras caught murray blowing a kiss to someone in court on his way outside. whether the doctor will serve all the time that he was sentenced to is another question, because california has

a serious prison overcrowding problem. the man who tried to assassinate president ronald reagan is seeking his freedom in federal hearings that begin today. a court will decide whether john hinckley should be released from a mental hospital. hinckley shot president reagan back in 1981 in an effort to impress actress jodie foeft ste. he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. government officials believe he is still capable of violence. pakistan the military releasing new video showing the aftermath of that nato attack over the weekend. 24 pakistanis soldiers were killed in the air strike. pakistan the prime minister says he's re-evaluating his country's relationship with the united states. pakistan will boycott and upcoming conference in afghanistan. u.s. officials are investigating the incident. hillary clinton has arrived in myanmar. she's the first secretary of state to visit the southeast asian nation in five decades. the historic two-day trip comes

on the heels of dramatic concessions by president thein and his new government. they recently freed dozens of political prisoners including aung san suu kyi. still to come this morning, some are calling him the accident's nominee. why mitt romney may be the luckiest candidate ever to run for president. oops. the gaffes keep coming for rick perry. the gop candidate make as double flub at a recent campaign stop. we'll show you the tape, straight ahead. and it's said to be weren't of the largest strikes in a generation. shutting down schools and creating long lines at airports. live to london with developing details of a nationwide strike. you're watching "american morning." it's 11 minutes past the hour. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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it's 14 minutes participate the hour. welcome back. what if they held a presidential race and all the candidates imploded? not such a farfetched notion, and the last man standing might be mitt romney, who some are calling the accidental nominee.

here's jim acosta. >> reporter: mitt romney just might be the most fortunate contender in the 2012 campaign. warming up some half-bake attack lines for the president -- >> he'd nerve her a job. to create jobs it helps to have a job and i have. >> reporter: romney's rivals have been burning themself. whether it's herman cain or rick perry. herman cain, who aofficiated weddings is the last to stumble breaking marriage vows of his own. allegations he's denied. romney critics say it's another break for the front-runner. >> can i just say that mitt romney is the luckiest man on the planet. all of these guys just keep imploding. their campaigns implode and romney holds steady like 22% to 25%. >> reporter: romney's done that in part playing it safe. holding few interviews and brief news conferences and picked up endorsements politicians and a pair of gop senators.

>> if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> reporter: after the romney campaign took the president's words out of context in a negative ad last week. >> the right next step in the fight to preserve the sanctity of life is to see roe v. wade overturned. >> the democratic party responded in kind with a misuse of romney's past comments to paint the former governor as a flip-flopper. but that fit neatly into the romney playbook, fight with the president, not with his gop foes. >> they're afraid of me in the general election. the primary process, to anybody but me. bring it on. we're ready for them. >> reporter: before he can bring on the president he has to get past his latest surging rival, newt gingrich. gingrich has the lead in a new south carolina poll. ahead of romney and the fading cain. gingrich suggested to a radio talk show host, romney is not a

reliable conservative. >> i wouldn't switch my positions for political reasons. >> reporter: how do you answer the charge from speaker gingrich? romney wanted nothing of it. climbing in the suv, and back under the radar. a cain exit to cut two ways for romney. a recent cnn/orc poll says it could help newt gingrich or rick perry but it could work to romney's advantage telling republican voters it's time to end the gop ready show and get behind a candidate loop happen a decent shot of being the president. jim acosta, cnn, tampa, florida. all right. what do the candidates really stand for when it comes to the economy? there's very different ideas among the republicans. many of whom you just saw there, but most overlap on three key points. cutting corporate taxes, repealing so-called obama care, shrinking the government. basically all say this president has been terrible for the economy, and they would be better. this week we wanted to focus a little on newt gingrich. we're hearing a lot more about the former house speaker's plan

as he emerges at the front-runner in some polls. his plan includes those three points we mentioned but what else? scrap a state and capital gains taxes completely. he wants to extend the bush tax cuts and he wants to give voters the option, the option, for a 15% flat tax on income. you remember, rick perry had something similar. 20% optional flat tax on income. also he wants to balance the budget. he wants to break up fannie mae and freddie mac, it's a little controversial. remember, gingrich has taken a lot of heat over the money. more than $1.5 million he earned, or his company earned from consulting work with freddie mac. reform the federal reserve and limit power and switch to something called the lean six sigma to manage our government. what's that? a cult business management technique useed by many fortune 500 companies. it would mean in the government cutting the fat, firing underfiring employee, seeking to

strict budget terms. carol, basically doing business a lot differently than the government currently does and he says you could save tens of billions of dollars by doing that. hundreds of billions oerch are the long-term by doing that, running the government like you run a company. some of the key points of newt gingrich's economic plan. >> and we'll gelt to the rest of candidates later? >> oh, yeah. one by one. >> thanks, christine. talk about one of the other candidates. oops, he did it again. rick perry messes up simple campaign facts in new hampshire. the republican presidential candidate gets the country's voting age and election date wrong. >> those of you that will be 21 by november the 12th, i ask for your support and your vote. those had you who won't be, just work hard, because you're going to enharriet this and you're counting on us getting this right. >> for the record, the voting age in this country is 18 and the general election is scheduled for november 6th. all right. it's 20 minutes after the hour.

that means it's time for rob marciano. good morning, rob. >> good morning, guys. some temperatures that are kind of our whack the last couple of days. 20 to 30 degrees above average in record setting. today, even it out a little bit. still, far more in bangor, maine, almost 60 degrees at this hour. rotatie ining showers into nort new england and temperatures in d.c. feeling more like fall or december-like, into the 30s. beyond that, lexington, places further to the west, in the 20s. milwaukee and 30 degrees currently in detroit. cold air driving down to the south. don't have to tell you there. decent weather across the midsection of the country and storm system that's dropping down out of canada will bring 6 to 12 inches of of snow across the northern rockies, maybe 12 to 20 inches of snow across parts of the wasatch of utah. that will help instigate santa ana winds, very strong tonight

and especially into tomorrow morning. could be historic, winds gusting up to 80 miles an hour. towned trees and power lines, and slowing down air forecast. los angeles and france later today and windy conditions across the l.a. metro airports. back to you. >> thank you, see you soon. still to come, how you could maybe one day own a piece of an iconic new york city skyscraper. yeah. the empire state building. >> and you don't get a parking ticket in front of it. another piece of it. and the white house, launching its re-election campaign. targeting one particular candidate in its commercials. we'll tell you which one.

welcome back. "minding your business." banks downgraded. the top six biggest banks in america were all downgraded by ratings agency standard & poor's late last night. jpmorgan chase, bank of america, citigroup, goldman sachs, morgan stanley and wells fargo. s&p has a new ratings system based on the new eevaluation of the banks weaknesses and europe's crisis raising concern about the banking system and credit worldwide. right now u.s. stock futures trading higher because china eased its banks reserve requirements. that means essentially frees up more cash to support the global banking system. the first time china's done this since december of 2008. you can tell europe fixes its mess, expecting big swings and uncertainty in the stock market. and officials warning at the

federal reserve the global economy faces critical challenges like europe's debt crisis and america's housing market. officials from the central bank stopped short of supporting new measures to boost growth. one official did say the fed could keep short-term interest rates close to zero for longer to help the u.s. economy. the federal communications commission slamming at&t saying at&t presented flawed information about its proposed merger with t-mobile in the 109-page report the fcc all but accuses at&t of lying, lying, about the benefits of the merger saying it would not create new jobs and lessen competition and consumer choice. facebook settling with the feds over allegations it failed to protect members' private information. the social network agreed to go through a privacy audit every two years for the next 20 years. the federal trade commission also has the power to fine facebook $16,000 if the site does anything deceptive. and you could soon own a piece of the empire state

building. the folks that own the new york city landmark reportedly filed papers to create a publicly traded company allowing people like you and me to invest in the famous skyscraper and other u.s. properties. "american morning" will be right back after this short break. nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. tylenol: we are? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

for others, it's somethingelong discovered yesterday. we all have things that speak to us. they drive us to get up early, and stay up late. getting lost in the things we love has never felt quite like this. [ growling ] captain, one step at a time.keep going! come on, snowy. look! did you ever see a more beautiful sight? captain! it's just a mirage. - snowy? what is it, boy? - [ barks ] what do you see? [ yipping ] [ woman announcing ] just like snowy, your dog's one of a kind. overactive imagination and all. [ barking ] long live your buddy. long live your dog. [ tintin ] snowy! purina dog chow. see the adventures of tintin, only in theaters.

welcome back to "american morning." it's 30 minutes past the hour. time for this morning's top stories -- no sign of surrender from herman cain. amp saying he's re-assessing his campaign. he was at a michigan college last night never addressing allegations of that extramarital affair with a georgia woman. and hillary clinton arrived for the first u.s. visit of a secretary of state in some 50 year years in myanmar.

clinton will meet with nobel peace laureate opposition liter aung san suu kyi. and over 200 people arrested as police cleared out occupy protesters in los angeles. the move comes 48 hours after a deadline to get out expired. republicans like to call him the campaigner and chief, but as far as democrats are concerned the president has catching up to do because the opposition has been on the offensive for months and only now is the white house launching a counter attack. let it all begin. brianna keilar is with us. >> reporter: you know the white house has been resistant for some time over and over to this suggestion for months president obama is campaigning, but he's gone through a lot of battleground states and will do it again today heading to scranton, pennsylvania. all you have to do, turn on your tv to see that campaign season has begun. not just for republicans but for president obama.

he's off and running. >> the 2012 campaign is under way. and the outcome will depend not on wrap i do but on what you do. >> reporter: the president's re-election campaign launched its first ads tuesday looking for volunteers. >> help build our campaign in your community rsht the same week the dnc put out this ad resembling a movie trailer. >> the story of two men, one body. >> reporter: hitting republican rival mitt romney as a flip-flopper, even before the first caucus and primary. >> great to be back in virginia. >> reporter: during his third year in office, mr. obama has held 55 events in swing states. more than any other president according to the "wall street journal." republicans are hitting him saying he's campaigning on the taxpayers' dime, but the white house denies the travel is political. >> every president ought to be able to travel everywhere in the country. it's part of his responsibility, serving the american people to get out, be among them and speak

with them about his or her agenda. this president will continue to do that. >> reporter: republican strategist says the president should be out on the campaign trail. >> nothing's getting done in washington from now until next november. so it's not too early for the president to get out there and start campaigning. >> reporter: but castillanos also says it's understandable the white house is resistant to calling what looks and sound like political events political. >> i think the president is caught in the a catch 22 here, and that is in a he's running against politics in washington. he says that's what's preventing anything from getting done, but then he's going out in and becoming political, and that is open to the charge of hypocrisy and that's what he's trying to avoid. >> reporter: the other sensitivity here is the cost of presidential travel, because taxpayers pick up, really, the vast majority of the tab here. even though that's, of course, perfectly legal, voters tend to

have a problem with it, when it appears to be political travel. christine, as you can imagine, that's really a concern for any president, republican or democratic. >> oh, yeah. brianna keilar at the white house. thanks. also this morning, syracuse coach jim bayhooeheim says he's worried about his job. three men have come forward saying the former assistant syracuse coach arrested him as kids, no charges filed. and marking the end of the iraq war with a surprise visit from the vice president yesterday. he arrived to pay homage to the last u.s. troops coming home by the end the year. a bloody cairo. 62 people injured at least by fire bombs and rocks in tahrir square all while egyptians continued heading to the polls for a second day of elections. they'll choose the parliament, then asked to draft a new constitution for egypt. the man arrested in

connection with the disappearance of a maryland woman in aruba, he is a free man this morning. gary giordano's attorneys say aruban authorities let him go last night. he has never been charged in the case and the judge ruled he can no longer be kept custody. the missing woman, robyn gardner, last seen in august when she went snorkeling with giordano. an angry judge throwing the book at dr. conrad murray sentencing him to four years behind bars for the death of michael jackson. the judge said he is dangerous and has no sense of remorse. >> experiment's medicine is not going to be tolerated, and mr. jackson was an experiment. he engaged in this money-for-medicine madness. >> after that scolding, cameras caught murray blowing a kiss to someone in the courtroom on his way out. whether murley serve all of

thigthis time is questionable because of overcrowded prisons in california. and headed to court for an arraignment. charged with shaving beards and cutting hair of members of a rival amish group. a man's beard and head hair are sacred in the amish relation. and considering decisions to block new cigarette warning, forcing tobacco companies to label packages with graphic anti-smoking messages. the court called it unconstitutional. still to come this morning, the cain train may leave the station. his campaign rocked by a new sex scandal. herman cain re-assessing whether to stay in the race. the polls say he still has a shot. looks like the latest comic book story. a man soaring in formation with jets. the legend of the jetman growing after another death-defying

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40 minutes past the hour. welcome back. is the cane train leaving the station? or has it already left? herman cain re-assessing what it takes to continue his presidential run. his campaign rocked by a new sex scandal. i'm sure you've heard about it by now. an atlanta woman claims she had a 13-year long affair. extramarital affair with cain. he denies it. will he stay, or will he go? turning to leslie sanchez and cnn contributor ruben. good morning to both of you. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> good morning. so leslie, let's start with you. ginger white, cain's alleged mistress was out doing a morning show today. she was on "good morning america" and spilled more details of that alleged relationship she had with herman cain. i mean, i know. does it matter what else she

says? >> people have heard enough but unfortunately there will probably be a lot more. part of the innuendo you saw, the narrative painted about many of the women related to sexual harassment issues and cairn cn.e it was the cloud of doubt. it makes it incredibly difficult for him to focus on his candidacy. he sent a letter of support trying to get supporters energized saying it's just a bump in the road. the challenge is the money. everybody's talking about that. it's drying up, and republicans are very serious and focused on 2012. looking for the most competitive candidate, all r and all of this is a distraction that will continue to make it really just an uphill battle for him to continue. >> ruben, is it important to say voters didn't believe the women who came forward with allegations of sexual harassment, but this latest woman, she's -- she's not easy to dismiss.

>> oh, carol, absolutely. this latest charge is much different, and i think it's much more damaging in the long run. the woman's very believable, but beyond that, i think that herman cain's denials flat out denial it's, insisting people are lying is wearing thin with voters. i don't think it's a question of morality. this is not really about sex or infidelity or morality, how people feel about that. it's about a sense herman cain isn't telling the truth to us. wasn't prepared to enter the race in the first place. had skeletons in his closet, looks like, and never was prepared to deal with them nap does not set well with voters. somebody who is running for president should just be much more prepared for this sort of thing. >> and i think you've hit it, because i think some voters are saying, herman cain knew this was in his past. shouldn't he have prepared knowing he was going to run for president? >> he should have prepared better, had a better team. and overall, if you look back at his statement when talking about, i've never done anything

to anyone at anytime, i'm paraphra paraphrasing. a challenge that hearkens back to gary hart, challenging the media. a hotel receipt, a picture that basically laid groundwork for anything to surface, much less anticipating something like this latest incident. it's incredibly difficult to focus on the issue and focus on this in a short amount of time. >> cain's people came out and tweeted, i alaska on abc news that cain was not dropping out of the race. instead he's going to change his strategy. going on a bus tour in ohio. will we see that change in strategy today in ohio? >> he may -- his strategy, think this out. >> but why? >> i think maybe more direct connection to the voters, getting out on a bus tour. maybe he thinks the media filtered, not serving him well.

remember, for a while, doing radio interviews, television interviews. he may think that strategy backfired on him and now wants to go directly to the voters. i don't think it works ultimately. the day comes herman cain drops out, be assured of at least one thing. there is trouble on the homefront. i am sure these allegations take a toll on your family life. if ever there comes a time he backs away from the table, that will be the reason why. >> many think herman cain was never serious about actually winning the white house. he was actually just going on a big book tour to sell books. is that too cynical or is it more, is it herman cain started out that way and said, wow. i really could be president, so i'm going to get serious. which was it, do you think? >> when people decide they want to run for president, that's a very difficult challenge to do. a lot easier to talk about it than actually execute it, raise the kind of resources they'll need to actually be competitive. the advantages is he's an outsider. somebody not part of the status

quo. very much reform oriented election cycle with voters looking for someone different. that did appeal, but he's very much, has always been, a media darling. there's something about the press. ask sarah palin. they're either at your feet or at your neck. i think he's realizing quickly, this is not the type of candidacy that can be legitimate this go-round for national office. >> you mentioned voters were looking for an outsider, but so far all of the outsiders have pretty much imploded. the insiders are the ones -- the insiders are the ones ahead in the polls. what do you make of that? do people really want an outsider there? >> well -- yes. it's a good point. they want and outsider, but the insiders know how to play the game. they're the ones who are experts at dealing with the media. 20, 30 years of dealing with the media. fending off accusations of various kinds. you pair up an outsider versus an insider.

insiders know the game and have staying power and don't get caught up. herman cain didn't know enough about politics. a blessing and curse in a case like this. people like newt gingrich, mitt romney and others don't have to worry about that. >> thank you both so much for being with us this morning. we appreciate it. >> all right. still to come, a nationwide strike paralyzing britain now. schools and offices closed. traveler, told to stay away. we'll have the very latest. and an alarming newscast last night for nbc anchorman brian williams. i'm laughing, but it must have felt really terrible for poor brian. you're watching "american morning." today's "romans' numeral"'s 35 million of you. here's a hint -- think ebenezer scrooge.lt is fast. did you hear sam... ...got promoted to director? so 12 seconds ago. we should get him a present. thanks for the gift basket. you're welcome. you're welcome. did you see hr just sent out new... ...office rules? cause you're currently in violation of 6 of them. oh yeah, baby? ...and 7.

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here's what you need to start your day -- in britain, threatening to walk off the jobs because of pension reforms. schools, hospitals and border controls all expected to be affected by today's strike. hillary clinton is in myanmar. the first secretary to visit this southeast asian nation in five decades. the historic two-day trip comes on heels of president thaen's decision to free dozens of political prisoners. vice president joe biden marking the end of the upcoming iraq war with a surprise visit

to baghdad. he arrived yesterday for meetings with iraqi leaders and to say thank you to the last u.s. troops who will be coming home by the end of the year. syracuse head coach jim boeheim addressing the bernie fine sex abuse scandal saying he's not worried about his job. three men have now come forward saying bernie fine, the former syracuse assistant coach, molested them when they were children. penn state is holding a town hall today on its child sex scandal. students will be able to ask questions to the university president. former penn state coach jerry sandusky is accused of sexually abusing boys over a 14-year period. he says he is innocent. and today is a big day for patients taking lipitor. one of the most popular drugs used to treat high cholesterol. today pfizer's patent on this drug runs out, which means other companies can start making generic brands, in turn means it could cost a lot less. 17 million people are prescribed

lipitor. yaur caugou're caught up on headlines.

bah humbug. a number in the news today and that number is 35 million and those are the number of us who dread having to be nice for the holidays. >> i don't believe that. i don't believe it. >> that's according to consumer reports and among the reasons why people sort of dread the holidays and having be nice all about overconsumption. people are grumpy about standing in line. they are grumpy about gaining weight and about going into debt. those are their biggest concerns. >> and they leave out the pressure that they have to be nice during christmastime.

>> although i like when people are nice to me all the time. >> don't wait in line, just be nice. don't go into debt. >> 35 million people of tired of being nice to people at christmas. >> i'm trying to be an optimist this morning, christine. >> 270 million aren't. >> that's glass half full. he's like a real-life ironman. a dare devil soaring through the sky raising jeanne moos with jetman's wild ride. >> reporter: it seemed amazing back in 1928 and seems just as amazing in 2011 and most amazing when the swiss aviator jetman actually flew with jets. what does it feel like? >> like unreal. hey, i'm flying almost with nothing but i am with jets. >> reporter: fast for jetman around 137 miles per hour. slow for the actual jets.

>> the jets, the minimum speed and i was at my maximum. >> reporter: a stunt high above the alps the other day. 52-year-old eve rossi has been developing his jet wing for 15 years. crossing the grand canyon, not crossing the strait of jurbrawlter. for his rendezvous with the real jets, he had a chopper drop him off. he doesn't steer, it's pure flying. >> shoelders to the right and i turn right. i bend down, i go down. >> reporter: he has only enough kerosene for the four engines under his wing to last for about eight minutes of flight, but, oh, what a flight it was. >> reporter: jetman carefully stay eed out of the tail turbulence. jetman's sponsor. as for the pilots --

>> they were a little bit afraid to hurt me. >> reporter: described it as emotional. just outside your cockpit you can see into the eyes of a man flying next to you, smiling while keeping pace with the jet. when is the last time you saw a guy in a skin tight suit flying around outside a jet aircraft? that's superman saving a passenger plane as it nose dives into a baseball stadium. of course, he doesn't have to worry about running out of fuel. rossi said he had to bail out of an uncontrolled spin about 20 times since he first developed his wings. he detaches and both he and the wings float to the ground on separate parachutes. there was no emergency this time and jetman landed gracefully. talk about winging it.

♪ when you're a jet >> reporter: jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> that is so awesome. >> really awesome. >> i'd like to go to work that way every day. >> i know. speaking of a day at work, brian williams had a regular day at work yesterday sort of. he's reported from war zones, confronted world leaders but he faced a pretty big challenge as a broadcast yesterday. a fire alarm went off just as the show started and it wouldn't stop. the veteran anchorman didn't miss a beat. >> good evening, perhaps it's because of its name. for all the bankruptcies we've covered in this grim u.s. economy, this one gets your attention. you'll forgive us, we have a fire alarm announcement going on here in the studio. while staying in the air will perhaps not something special any more. again, we have an announcement going on here in the studio. tom costello, we should advise

our viewers there is no danger to us. we'd love to make this stop, why don't you take it from our washington bureau. >> it went on during the whole newscast. >> that's happened to me here on the air at cnn. but ours says, this is not an emergency. this is not an emergency. and it's like, stop it then. anyway, an nbc spokesperson later tweeted the first fire alarm in the studio. it was a new system and it just kicked on and they had no idea how to turn it off because it was a new system, but they're working out the kinks and i'm sure they'll get it fixed today. >> not your average newscast last night for sure. "occupy l.a." tents coming down. police rushing the camp and forcing protesters out. we're live in los angeles for a look at the messy aftermath. and the man who shot president ronald reagan is asking a federal court to set him free. what are the chances he'll be let go? we'll ask a legal expert paul callan is here. you're watching "american morning." capital one's new cash rewards card

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l.a. unoccupied. i'm carol costello. more than 200 protesters arrested and hazmat suits move in. i'm christine romans. herman cain reassessing his campaign after facing allegations that he had a 13-year affair but showing no signs of surrender on this "american morning." and good morning to you, it is wednesday, november 30th. ali has the day off. >> good morning, everybody. happening right now, as many as 2 million public workers walking off the job today across britain. protesting cuts to their pensions. today's strike is causing massive disruptions and not just the uk, but across the globe. schools are closed, public transportation is down and there are long lines at airports and hospitals. >> and the airports, as

christine mentioned, also affected. a number of airplanes are canceling flights into london and travelers who had to get their passports checked are being told to expect to wait in line. up to 12 hours. we'll have a live report from london in less than 30 minutes. also developing right now, a bomb sniffing dog going through the tattered remains of "occupy l.a." camps this morning after police in riot gear cleared out those protesters overnight. the police chief saying more than 200 people were arrested after they ignored several ten-minute warnings to clear out. the protesters even had to be removed from trees in cherry pickers. sandra endo live for us this morning. sandra, what is happening now? >> well, christine, let me show you the very active scene here. take a look behind me. in front of city hall park right now. you see police officers in hazmat suits. they are going through the very

careful process of cleaning this whole entire encampment up and they're going through all the tents. when we got a closer look up there, it looked like a tornado blew through the entire area. all the tents were flattened. that's because of the early morning raid. what happened earlier around midnight protesters got the warning that police were going to come to evict them and that is when the protesters filled this entire street, christine. hundreds of them shutting it down. police set up a perimeter around this area and then, essentially, had a sneak attack from behind city hall and took over control of the entire camp. and that's when there was a little bit of a scuffle. a group of protesters then sat down in the middle of the camp linked arms and some people were crying and some people wearing masks around their faces and they basically said, look, we're going to get arrested for our cause. so, over the last few hours, that's what's been going on

here. 1,400 cops were here on the scene to handle the situation. we saw the bomb squad. cops in riot gear and the fire department and, so, it was a joint effort and, obviously, the mayor and police commissioner were very pleased with the whole event. they came out here, talked to reporters and said everything went smoothly with very minimal use of force. christine? >> sandra, do you know why those officers are wearing hazmat gear while they are going through the flattened tents? >> well, christine, i can tell you, i was in the middle of it when they were collapsing these tents and it is pretty filthy. these people have been here. these protesters for 60 days now and while they have tried to keep up to health code, when you take down that tent, we just saw a lot of filth. a lot of trash, a lot of liquids, we didn't know what it was and the odor is very, very strong. so, they're keeping mind for their own safety and their own

health out there with these hazmat suits. they don't want to get any kind of toxic chemical or any kind of dirt on them, as well. if you take a look way down there in the trees. they are still using a cherry picker to perhaps get a couple of the last-standing protesters out of a treehouse that they have built. so, a lot of established little tents and little tree houses and boxes they've created over the 60 days here, christine. so, still, the cops have a lot of work to do. >> sandra endo, thanks for that, sandra. >> i don't mean to laugh, but so bizarre that they're using cherry pickers to get protesters from trees. >> making a stand. herman cain may call it quits. maybe. the republican presidential hopeful says he is "reassessing his run for the white house following allegations he had had a long-term affair with an atlanta businesswoman." that woman ginger white appeared

on abc's "good morning america" this morning saying it was "a casual affair." she also added she thinks herman cain would not be a good president. cnn political deputy reporter paul steinhauser live in washington. so, the cain camp tweeted out this morning that they were not going to end the campaign. what's the story? >> herman cain does not sound like a candidate right now who is about to stomp his campaign. he gave a speech last night in ohio where he didn't talk about these allegations at all. i just got off the phone with a campaign staffer traveling with the candidate who said, as far as he knows, it continues on. yesterday morning, though, it was a different herman cain. he sounded a little different. he was giving a conference call with his campaign staffers and he talked about reassessing the campaign. he's done this four times before. this will be the fifth one. here's what he said on that conference call. we have to do an assessment as to whether this will create too much of a cloud in some people's minds as to whether or not they will be able to support us going forth. to that alleged 13-year affair,

it has taken a toll on my wife and family, as you would imagine. but, carol, later in the day, in the e-mail to supporters cain sounded much more forceful. here's what he told supporters of his campaign. let me assure you, i'm not deterred. america's future is too important. we'll continue on this journey to make america great, once again. the big question now for herman cain, support. we've seen his poll numbers starting to slide over the last couple weeks and with five weeks to go until the iowa caucuses, does he have the money to continue on? fund-raising is crucial. will it dry up. listen to what his guy told john king last night. >> we don't have major donors and he's not a candidate who is going to be able to self-fund the whole thing. so, if people make contributions, then we'll keep the campaign doors open and be able to keep paying people. otherwise, otherwise herman cain will have to make a decision whether he can afford to keep moving forward. now, i believe people will come through and i believe that we have enough supporters across the nation to keep this campaign viable.

>> the so-called cain train moves on today. three stops in ohio where the candidate may give us some details on this reassessment and tonight in new hampshire where he may talk to reporters. carol? >> paul steinhauser reporting live from washington, thanks. >> gingrich would benefit the most if he would drop out and the irony of that is not lost on people who would watch his political rise and fall and fall again, too, because so many of his own issues about family values, i think they call them. we're hearing from head coach basketball coach jim bboeheim. here's what he said when he spoke out of his friend. >> i supported a friend. i'm proud that i did. if you have known somebody and worked with somebody or worked with them for 36 years and known them for 48 years and you went

to school with them, i think you owe a debt of allegiance and gratitude for what he did for the program and that's what my reaction was. so beat it. >> ed lavandera live in syracuse for us this morning. good morning, ed. >> good morning. it's a difficult situation for jim boeheim to say the least. bernie fine not only his assistant coach, but he lives across right the street. but last night the syracuse basketball team on the basketball court playing eastern michigan university. they blew that team out of the water last night on the court. when jim boeheim walked out into the arena he got a strong ovation from the 19,000 people who attended the game last night, but after the game, as you saw a little clip of it there, very few questions about what happened on the court. much of the questioning continues to focus around what's been happening off the court and

these investigations. jim boeheim says he's secure and not worried about losing his job here at the university where he's been the basketball coach for 36 years now. boeheim says even though he has a lot of control over what goes on, he doesn't have control over what adults do. he says all of this experience and learning and learning more details about this investigation are disheartening for him. >> there's an investigation under way. there are no charges, there are no indictments. there is no grand jury. there is no action being taken. when that is done, then we will see what has happened on my watch. >> so, boeheim says on what he knew and what has gone on with the various investigations that happened. back in 2002 with the syracuse

police department, as well as the university's investigation in 2005. he pretty much stuck to kind of a script that he had written out for himself and his comments that he made and didn't waiver beyond much of that. one interesting note, however, he asked if he lisened to the audiotapes between bernie fine's wife and the first accuser jimmy davis and jim boeheim says he has not listened to those tapes. >> ed lavandera, thank you. he's inching closer to freedom. john hinckley jr. the man who tried to assassinate president ronald reagan seeking his freed freedom. the mystery around the $254 million powerball jackpot. there is no mysterious fourth man and they're revealing their plans for what to do with that money. you may have seen star trek documentaries before, but nothing like this. it's called trek nation. a journey to discover who the

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breaking new s right now. the world central bankers are bringing out the big guns to support the banking system. increase credit to households and businesses to foster economic activity. what this is, it's the federal reserve, the bank of canada, bank of england and the european central bank and the swiss national bank. they're all stepping in and saying that they're going to increase liquidity in the global markets. we told you earlier that china had lowered some lending requirements earlier this morning, as well. it's showing you that they're seeing strains in the banking system and all the big guns are saying we're going to step in and make sure this isn't going to hurt you, your ability to get a job, your ability to borrow.

u.s. stock markets surging. the dow futures up right now, up more than 230 points. i'll point out the german stock market is up 4.5%. we talked to ken rogoff earlier this morning about the big concerns of europe becoming unglued and how germany is so central to that. investors saying this gives germany some breathing space to help fix the problems in europe. all right, let's head to atlanta to check in with rob marciano for a different kind of number. good morning. >> the numbers topsy-turvy the past couple days with unseasonably warm temps across the northeast and chilly stuff down across the south including snow falling in unusual spots. today the atmosphere will try to even things out. currently, almost 60 degrees in bangor, maine. meanwhile, in d.c. dropped into the 30s in lexington and into the 30s in places like milwaukee, wisconsin.

cold breezes behind this front. central part of the country is nice, but the next storm from canada drops into the rockies and that will bring some snow, especially to the northern rockies 6 to 12 inches there and then later on to the southern rockies and the wasatch of utah. but that cool dome of air will help instigate what will likely be a pretty serious santa ana wind event with winds going off shore today and san francisco will see some winds gusting over hurricane strength to maybe 70 or 80 miles per hour especially down the canyons and down trees and power lines likely in some of these spots. it will slow down some travel, obviously, in san francisco and los angeles. also some windy travel across parts of the northeast and in through new york city and the metro areas there and cleveland and detroit, maybe some morning flurries. 49 degrees in atlanta, 52 degrees in new york and we'll start to get things back to normal, i suppose, after a couple days of wackiness. >> bummer.

thank you, rob. >> all right, guys. the man who tried to assa assassinate president ronald reagan is seeking his freedom. attorneys for john hinckley will appear in court today. you'll remember that president reagan was shot six times march 30th, 1981. he nearly died after one bullet landed just an inch from his heart. three others were injured in that shooting, including the white house press secretary james brady. >> that's clear as day in my memory. clear as day. hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity and he planned to kill reagan in order to impress actress jodie foster. hinckley's doctors say his mental problems are in remission. let's bring in our cnn legal analyst, i apologize, paul, i have a cold. i'm having trouble talking today. >> now i know where i got it. >> i'm staying away from both of you. >> something new came out of the story. john hinckley's kind of mental

illness could be in remission. >> yes, it could. if we believe psychiatrists, which a lot of people don't. most types of mental illness are curable. and he's responded -- >> curable. through medication. can be treated, but they're saying his mental illness, at least part of it, is in remission. >> well, they're saying that he was suffering from a number of conditions such as depression and other conditions, which led to him to do, to shoot president reagan and to stalk jodie foster. with medication, the psychiatrists say he's fine. only suffering from one problem, which they say is his core problem is narcissism. which seems to inflict a lot of people in washington, d.c. self-love or admiration. but he's got a very, very serious form of it and that continues and that's what psychiatrists, government psychiatrists are saying can cause some problems. >> the hospital wants to expand hinckley's trips to visit his mother. allowing him two trips for 17 days each. six trips for 24 days each. total of 178 days outside the

hospital, that's half a year. the hospital would like the power to temporarily release him without court approval with letting him go home eventually full time. not guilty by reason of insanity and they say he's treated for these core problems that he has. should he be allowed to go home? >> that's what the court and the federal judge will have to decide. i think most people would be shocked to know that hinckley, who shot president reagan, has been leaving the hospital pretty much unsupervised now for a number of years. >> just has to check in with the secret service or something, right? >> he calls in and says where he is and the secret service kind of generally knows, but i'm sure they don't have an agent following him. he's under orders to become a community volunteer where his 85-year-old mother lives. so, he's out of the hospital a lot. the hospital now is trying to work toward permanent release. which i think would shock a lot of people for a guy who hshot te president of the united states. >> you think if you shoot the president, that's it. don't care if you're insane or

not. you thougshot the president of united states. the president of the united states, how could you think of letting someone out of custody? >> well, we have a law or at least we had a law at the time that if you're found not guilty by reason of insanity, that you go to a mental hospital and if you are cured of the insanity, you must be released. matter of fact, that law was so controversial after this happened that the law was changed in every state in the united states to make it almost impossible to get off on an insanity defense. you never see it successful because of hinckley. but, getticing back to this sto. the government is really worried about this because the doctors make a compelling case that hinckley is getting pretty normal with medication. >> he's had some odd behavior with women, in particular. that's something the government has been concerned about. >> here's what the government says. they're going through the records in great detail to try to convince the federal judge, you can't release this guy. they find that in 2009 he had dental appointments with a

dentist, a female dentist and he went back to his computer in the hospital and he started looking her up, googling her to try to find pictures of her. now, that is similar to the jodie foster stalking activity that occurred way back in 1981. so, they're saying, you know, there's still residual indications here that he's got a problem with women and we should look at all his computers to see what's going on with this guy. we don't have enough information. the government also criticizes hospital psychiatrists saying they're advocating his release, but they haven't done an adequate risk assessment. they haven't looked at his computers and they haven't thoroughly explored and examined his current obsessions to see if he should be released. >> just a final question about shooting, attempting to assa assassinate the president of the united states. when they're looking at this case, when the judge is looking at the hinckley case, will the fact that he shot president reagan enter into the decision or doesn't it matter? >> well, in theory, it doesn't

matter at all. a crime is a crime and whether it's shooting the president or shooting an ordinary citizen, the issue is not what the crime was. remember, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. so, the only issue is, is he a danger to himself or others psychoatry? if those two questions are answered with, no, he's not such a danger, the law says he must be released. now, will they release him? i don't think they will. a think a federal judge in the back of his mind, he knows it's reagan who was shot, look at these other cases we have. charlie manson, still in prison, son of sam david berkowitz, still in prison. jeffrey dahmer. all these cases involving these high-profile dangerous people still in prison. but they were not found not guilty by reason of insanity they were up for parole and they don't get released and the hinckley standard is very, very minimal here. i'm starting to get a little nervous that they might let this guy out. >> we'll see. >> we have to wait and see how

it plays out. a lot of discomfort in the washington, d.c., virginia area if he is released. >> i think jeffrey dahmer was killed in prison. >> yes, by the way, just doing a historic background on it. two others who shot at presidents, one shot at andrew jackson and somebody shot teddy roosevelt. they both spend the rest of their life in mental asylums, even though they were found not guilty by reason of insanity. historically, we don't let these guys out. >> we'll keep an eye on it. the decision is supposed to come some time this week. we'll check the surging early morning markets next. a big move to support the banking system under way. also, you want to own a piece of the empire state building? we'll tell you about that. this is different, in a rather bold move, rapper elvis costello was urging his fans not to buy his new album. say what? 23 minutes past the hour.

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26 minutes after the hour. minding your business this morning. stock markets in europe surging. futures up big. the world central bankers are br bringing out the big guns. essentially they're seeing strains in the global banking system, they're moving to increase liquidity so that you're still able to borrow money so that banks can still borrow money easily. this news sending the world's markets up. stock futures soaring and dow up now more than 250 points. german stock market up more than 4.5%. that's a pretty huge move for one day. you could soon own a piece of the empire state building, if

you want. the folks that own the new york city landmark have reportedly filed papers to create a publicly traded company that would allow people like you and me to invest in the world's most famous skyscraper and other new york properties, as well. rocker elvis costello telling fans not to buy his limited box set because of its price. $339.98. the singer saying on his website "the price appears to be a misprint or a satire." that box set includes a dvd, cd, ten inch vinyl and an autograph. workers in the uk go on strike. we're live in london. "american morning" back right after this break. congratulations.

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forcing airlines to cancel flights on this "american morning." welcome back to "american morning." it's 30 minutes past the hour. time for your top stories. more than 200 people arrested overnight as police cleared out "occupy" protesters near los angeles. hundreds of police in riot gear and hazmat suits moving in. the move comes 48 hours after a deadline to get out expired. a bloody night in cairo. at least 62 people injured by rocks, bottles and fire bombs in tahrir square all while egyptians continued heading to the polls for the second day of elections. they're choosing members of a lower house of parliament who will then be asked to draft a new constitution for egypt. hillary clinton arrived in myanmar this morning. she is the first secretary of state to visit in two decades. they recently freed dozens of

political prisoners, including nobel peace laureate and opposition leader. vice president joe biden marking the upcoming end of the iraq war with a surprise visit to baghdad. he arrived yesterday for meetings with iraqi leaders and to say thanks to the last u.s. troops who will be coming home by the end of the year. no sign of quitting in herman cain after telling his staff he is reassessing his campaign. the embattled businessman delivered a speech on foreign policy and national security at a michigan college last night and he's going ahead with campaign stops in ohio today. all right, also, as we speak, up to 2 million public workers are planning to walk off the job today across the uk. it's because the government is planning to reform retirement benefits. the massive strike is disrupting schools, hospitals, public transportation and more, quite frankly, they're saying it is the largest in a generation. the largest public strikes in the uk in a generation.

>> you got that right because, as you mention, the airports, there are also delays at heathrow. a number of airlines have already canceled flights into london and we assume out of london, as well. immigration officials also on strike. travelers being warned to expect to wait in line for up to 12 hours if they need to get their passports checked. >> let's go live to erin mclaughlin. she's on the phone live from london. this is all about the same storyline we have been hearing around the world, erin. that is governments tightening their belts and people are the ones that feel it and people are not hthat happy about it and that's what's going on with public workers here in the uk. >> exactly. i'm here in central london where thousands of public sector workers looks like are marching towards a central area where they plan on rallying against these government tension plans. part of the tensions, quite simply, the government wants public sector workers here in the uk contribute more to their

pension and to work longer. union leaders are saying that government proposals worse off, christine. at a time when they have seen pay freeze in times of increases. governments are saying, look, people are living longer. the cost of providing the current pension plan is rising and that cost is being paid by the uk taxpayer. >> erin mclaughlin reporting live from london for us, thank you. new york city under gridlock alert today with the president heading to wall street in the rockefeller center christmas tree lighting scheduled for tonight. a performance by justin bieber at the tree lighting ceremony was pretaped because organizers feared a traffic nightmare. >> holiday tree or christmas tree, hot debate in the state of rhode island ever since lincoln chafee invited everyone to come see the holiday tree lighting at the state house. critics say he shouldn't even

bother with the ceremony if he's not going to call it a christmas tree. he's not backing down. people who have a problem with the term holiday, they should use their energy to help the needy, instead. it wouldn't be the christmas season or holiday season without people arguing what kind of season it is. >> it is the war on christmas. >> every year we have a war on christmas. here it is, again. three hedge fund managers say they will give away $1 million to charity. the connecticut trio won a whopping $254 million bucks. they now plan to set up a trust fund to benefit u.s. veterans and those returning home from deployment, you know, to help with the holidays. in the meantime, the men are denying reports they accepted the winnings on behalf of a client, who wished to remain anonymous. all right, up next, we are very excited with our next guest. we're going star trekking with actress michelle, she is here in our studio to talk about the new documentary "trek nation" and it

is a delight to have her here.

and good morning, welcome back. star trek fans are waiting anxiously for a new documentary to premiere tonight on the science channel titled "trek nation" how gene roddenberry's son, rod, tries to understand who he was and the impact star trek had. >> i set out to learn what star trek meant to people. why do you like this show so much? >> i've never seen this. >> i think what your father was doing resonated because it actually talked about us. >> "star trek" expanded your imagination of what was possible. >> "star trek" equaled gene. he was the guy. this was his thing. >> i never really set out to learn about my dad, but it finally kind of dawned on me that it was the man behind "star trek" that i was really interested in.

>> joining us now is nichelle nichols who was interviewed as part of that documentary. thank you for joining us this morning. >> it is my pleasure. thank you for having me. this is, anything to get back to new york every once in a while. >> i used to live here and i miss it very much. >> it is an awesome city. 45 years, can you believe that "star trek" was born. >> i wasn't even born. >> what was it like to see the old clips of gene roddenberry. >> young rod, was family. like i always tease him and tell him, i knew you were before you were born in your mommy's tummy. so, i really have known him all his life and to see him come to

the stage where he didn't really know who his father was. he was only 17 when his father died and prior to that, he knew his dad did something in show business, but he was out doing things with his bodieuddies, yo know. suddenly his father die and he goes to a star trek convention and he's like just amazed. stunned. and who are these people? what? i mean, he began the quest of, who was my father? he was just dad. >> well, i'm sure he asked that question of you. who was my father? who was my father and how did you answer that question? >> a great man, a great visionary. and one way a very ordinary man until his vision needed to be expressed. and then he was a powerhouse. he had a wicked sense of humor.

and loved to play jokes on people. and, but, but he was vital and strong and once he was your friend, once he believed in you, he went to bat for you. >> you said it was like a family. what was it like with the different personalities on the set? you know, william shatner became this big star. how did he manage everyone? >> walk around them when, they'd walk around me when you're into something. otherwise, we were like one, i was going to say, one big happy family. but we were like one big family. >> i was going to say here at cnn we are a part of one, big, loving, dysfunctional family. >> exactly. that keeps it interesting, you know. >> gene roddenberry by casting you in that specific role because you weren't just another character, you were an important character and you had a position

of power on that program. >> uthura was fourth in command, i didn't find out i was fourth in command until the second season. nobody told me. but it was something you looked forward to doing every morning. couldn't wait to get to the studio. >> is it true that at one point you thought about going back to the theater and a very famous fan came to you and said, you can't. you have got to be the role model that you are. you are changing the destiny for women, for black women. >> yes. i told gene on a friday that at the end of the first season that i was going, i thanked him very much for the opportunity, but i was going to leave the show because i wanted to return to my roots, which is musical theater. as an actor, dancer, chore

choreographer and singer, which he knew about. he looked at me and said, you can't do that. don't you see what i'm trying to achieve here? if you leave now and then he said, no, i know what you feel, take the weekend and think about it. the next night on a saturday night i went to an naacp fund-raiser, i think it was, and someone, one of the organizers came over to me at the dance and said, ms. nichols, there's someone who wants to meet you. he says he's your biggest fan and i said, oh, a trekker and i turn and there's the face of dr. martin luther king smiling at me, walking at me and all i could do was -- >> not faint. >> because this was my leader. i see him every night on television marching and all of the things and changing history. and he walked up to me and he

laughed and he said, yes, ms. nichols, i am your fan, i am your greatest fan. so, when i finally got anything to say, i said, thank you so much, dr. king. i'm going to miss my co-stars. he said, what are you talking about? i told gene i'm leaving. he said, you can't. don't you know who you are to our movement, to everyone who's -- you are there in the 23rd century. you've created a role that has such dignity and everything. it's powerful. you cannot leave. he told me many other things like this is one of the only shows that coretta and i allow our little children to stay up and watch. >> that's terrific then. >> i went back the next monday morning and told gene and he said, god bless dr. martin luther king. somebody sees what i'm trying to achieve. >> that gives me goose bumps. >> here you are.

>> here i am. a >> all these years later? >> how many? >> 45. new fans are born every day for this movement. kids that grow up and they get exposed into it and amazing the generations and that vision. so, look forward to seeing the documentary. >> this documentary is amazing because this young man who didn't know who his father was set out to do it and, now, what's so amazing about him, is he's becoming his father. he wrote and produced it and, suddenly, he knows through the search not only who his father is, but who he is. >> wow. >> and it's a magnificent -- >> we can't wait to watch it. >> thank you so much for coming in. it's always wonderful to see you. >> it's my pleasure, thank you for having me. >> trek nation premieres tonight on the science channel at 8:00 p.m. eastern and pacific.

"american morning" will be back with headlines.

morning headlines. markets open in 45 minutes and right now stock futures are surging after the federal reserve, along with five central banks took new steps to make it cheaper for banks around the world to trade in u.s. dollars. according to the federal reserve, this is meant to lessen

the strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and in return foster economic activity. in britain, as many as 2 million workers are walking off the job today because of proposed pension reforms. schools, hospitals and border patrols are all expected to be affected by today's strike. riot police evicted wall street protesters in los angeles overnight. they were warned to leave their camp near city hall. 200 were arrested. four men charged in the amish beer cuttid cutting case. they face hate crime charges for cutting hair of members in a rival amish group. penn state is holding a town hall today on its child sex scandal. students will ask questions of the university president. and the man identified as victim number one in the jerry sandusky indictment will testify at a hearing in two weeks. that comes from the accuser's attorney. it will be the first time the alleged victim will publicly

confront sandusky. funeral services will be held this morning for the florida college student killed in an alleged hazing incident. 26-year-old robert champion was a drum major for florida academic mechanical university. herman cain is pressing on. he's going ahead with a planned campaign stop in ohio today after telling his staff yesterday he's reassessing his candidacy. that following a georgia woman's claim that she had a 13-year affair with the gop candidate. enough to turn any commuter into scrooge. with president obama heading to wall street and the rockefeller tree lighting also happening tonight, but a performance by justin bieber was pretaped with tree lighting organizers fearing an obaobama, biebs traffic nightmare.

1600 pennsylvania avenue where it's partly cloudy and 42 degrees right now. mostly sunny and maybe 51. welcome back, everyone. "am house call" and a disturbing trend is developing with hiv patients here in the u.s. the centers for disease control says only 28% of the 1.2 million americans with hiv are taking medicine regularly to control the disease. 28%. patients who do undergo regular treatments are 96% less likely to pass hiv along to their partners. today is a big day for patients taking lipitor. one of the popular drugs used to

treat high cholesterol. pfizer's patent on the drug runs out, which means other companies can start making generic brands, which in turns means it will cost a lot more for you. 17 million people are on lipitor. time to work out the rust, right? nba teams will begin hosting voluntary workouts tomorrow. officially training camps will not open until december 9th. the nba players and owners reached a deal to end that long lockout last week. the regular season is now scheduled to start on christmas day. that's about two months late. six minutes until the top of the hour. we'll be back.

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gorgeous shot, isn't it? good morning, new york. cloudy right now and the sun is peeking out. 47 degrees. later today, mostly sunny with a high of 52. >> closer to the new york stock exchange looking for a sunny day because dow futures are up 250 points right now and european markets are surging. you have the german stock market up almost 5%. it's because the fed, the european central bank, altogether five world central banks have promised that they're going to support the global financial system. that they're going to make it easier for the banks to do business in dollar funding. i don't want to get too in the weeds here. but basically what it means signs of strain in the credit markets and the world central bankers are standing up and saying we're going to do everything we can to make sure we don't have a credit crunch like we did in 2008. >> futures surging as a result, which is a good thing. finally this morning, brian williams. did you see the nbc "nightly news" last night? because brian williams faced, it

was so embarrassing, yet it was funny. the fire alarm just started going off right in the middle of the newscast. watch. >> good evening, perhaps it's because of its name. for all the bankruptcies we've covered in this grim u.s. economy, this one gets your attention. you'll forgive us, we have a fire alarm announcement going on here in the studio. again, we have an announcement going on here in the studio. tom costello, we should advise our viewers, there's no danger to us. we'd love to make this stop, why don't you take it from our washington bureau. we thought all the speakers were turned off. >> the fire alarm kept going off through most of the broadcast nbc spokesperson later tweeted the cystling should have been turned off, but, obviously, they're still working out the kinks there. i thought it was, you know -- when you look at something like a network broadcast that is so well produced, right, and the soin